Cargo Node utility bike

If I needed a good all around utility bike for the city. This has got to be the one I would concider electrifying. Just throw in a rear hub.

http://www.ternbicycles.com/bikes/471/cargo-node

A folding frame makes a bike worse. Small diameter wheels make a bike worse.

If you must have these things for some reason, and it must be a cargo bike, then the Cargo Node is your hookup.

For what it's worth, electrifying one of these things makes it a better proposition. You'd best add a Thudbuster seat post or the equivalent, though.

Perfect for carrying around as cargo. Other than that, only the extracycle bag and deck system has any appeal.

Depending on how much weight you plan to carry, you might need the strength of a good 2x laced 26" rear wheel. My next longtail build, in the planning stage now, will have a 20" rear wheel to lower the deck. The flip side will be no curb hopping and more vigilance about potholes. The motor I have in mind, it will be a weak radial lace. But a mid drive on that bike later. Oh yeah!

For even moderate cargo loads of say, 30 pounds, you definitely need a very stiff frame from side to side. That frame looks weak to me. But the tail wagging the dog won't bother you if you ride 10 mph. I have in mind a bike that will be stable at 30 mph.

Like this one turned out. It does get a wobble going if you induce it with too hard a steering input, but it damps itself immediately because the steel frame is so stiff.

The next one will be even stiffer!

Back to the subject of carrying it around as cargo, this bike is shorter than typical longtails like the Yuba, or the edgerunner. So it will fit on a swagman hitch mount bike rack. Some scoff at the idea of driving to a place to ride, but I can ride in desert at home, or carry the bike to the high mountains for a nice cool ride when it's 110 degrees back there in the desert.

For a cargo bike using a hubmotor, you really want a smaller wheel on the motor. That's actually true for all ebikes with hubbies, though those with quite flat terrain, or really light loads, or provide plenty of pedal assist on take-off and up hills, or just use low power, can get away with big wheels with very little detriment.

A small wheel is better for the motor's performance and efficiency. Using a small wheel on the same end as the cargo bay allows you to carry the load lower.

Everything else-- ride quality, rolling resistance, traction, tire wear, terrain capability, choice of quality tires, gearing range options-- is better with 26" or 700c wheels than with smaller wheels.

If it doesn't need to fold, what about a cargo fat minivelo like Be-All's BNF 20? According to the specs, those are 20" wheels, but I guess the Kenda tires add a bit to the overall diameter. There's also a 26" version.

That one looks nice and stiff. The welded on rack does help with flex side to side behind the seat tube.

We could argue all day about what wheel size is best. But sometimes the decision is driven by other things. In the case of my last cargo bike, I wanted to do a few thousand miles road test of my employers "cargo bike" kit, in 26" wheel. It only has 1000w, so it does have load limits around 350 pounds including the bike for a 26" wheel. Part of my job is telling folks, no, what you want to do will take more power, and or a bike with a smaller wheel.

Recently I took off the 1000w kit, replacing it with the trusty ol 5304 motor in 26". Now running 2000w, the 26" wheel doesn't bother it much, and it can haul 450 pounds up hills. But,,, it would do it better with a 20" wheel. Next bike will have it.

Rough sketch of the winter welding project. The main feature will be mixte style top bar. The dual top bar will be slightly spread, to allow a tray between them able to drop in an 18650 square pack. Possibly two such trays, with the 20" wheel allowing some more space behind the seat. But because of the chain, that rear tray might be very shallow, and end up as a controller space.

26" front wheel decision driven by what's in my bike junkyard. 26" disc brake wheels, 26" suspension forks. And half the frame will be a modified 26" MTB frame. So the headset and down tube are all set for 26".

FWIW, I find it a little humorous that some of these "cargo" bikes are even given the moniker.

I'm probably a little on the "extreme" side when it comes to cargo capacity, in many people's view, but:

In many (most?) cases, any regular bike with a $20 set of side baskets on it would carry more stuff with better handling than the tiny "cargo rack" most of them have (mostly cuz the load would be lower rather than over the top of the rear wheel).

At least to me, the point of a cargo bike is to actually carry significantly large amounts of cargo, relative to the mass/size of the bike and rider--being able to replace a car for that sort of thing, at least for the most part.

Having the rack actually part of the frame can make it stiffer, but it doesn't necessarily make it a great cargo bike.


Some of the welded-on-rack types, like the Xtracycle-type racks that allow adding side carriers, etc., would be way more qualified to carry the "cargo bike" moniker than most of the others that only have a teeny little rack surface to strap to.


Of course, there are always pannier-bags that can be strapped over the existing rack, but it seems to me like having solid supports for more/heavier cargo would be more desirable for most people that need to carry serious cargo.

I've used many sorts of carrying devices, from bags to baskets to plastic buckets to metal boxes, etc., in a lot of different configurations...and I just don't see that much usefulness for a tiny rear rack like the one in that pic of the little blue 20" fat-tire bike.




Another niggle I'd put on that particular bike is that it would probably be easier to ride in the city (especially given the typical bike-lane/road-edge conditions) if the front wheel were larger, like 26" or more. I've come to the 26" front / 20" rear configuration via various evolutions of my cargo bike & trike, and it works well for not so good conditions while still having a lower-COG for the cargo area.

(someday I'd like to build up a trike with 26" frotn and rear but a deep cargo deck almost to the ground...then it'd ride even better on bad roads even without suspension).

I'm liking using the bob trailer for grocery runs more and more. The only cargo I'm really designing my bikes for these days is the batteries. Pizza deck has come in handy pretty often, for the take and bake pies.

My Tern Ebike snapped under me at the welds where the main fold is, closest to the handlebars. I'll never buy a "single main tube" (many folding bikes, but not all, have this design) type bicycle again. 20" front wheels are stupid fun steering though.

kurtster said:

If it doesn't need to fold, what about a cargo fat minivelo like Be-All's BNF 20? According to the specs, those are 20" wheels, but I guess the Kenda tires add a bit to the overall diameter. There's also a 26" version.

Click to expand...

Can it be purchased in the uk?

Interesting comments, I wouldn't need such a bike where I live. I only pointed it out for large city use. Folding bikes for subways and such. Ability to take on a passenger. Seems like a good approach, since it can be stored in the apartment away from theft. A small folder might be all that is needed, but it doesn't have as much utility. Hiding everything under the cargo bag would keep it steathy as well.

I do like that fat bike, too bad I've reached my bike limit due to storage space. Need something like that for winter riding.

Tern Cargo Node e-RAD Electric Bike:
https://www.lectriccycles.com/product/tern-cargo-node/



:wink:

I'm liking my Travoy trailer, this was yesterday in ......wait for it, Bryce Canyon Utah. That's 7 gallons of mo gas in that fuel bladder. I am one of the very few (maybe only) pilots who NEVER burns Av gas. I have made a quest out of it, figuring out how to get mo gas using transportation I can carry in my VERY small experimental aircraft. With the BBSHD Montague/Rohloff hub/Travoy trailer combo it has all come together nicely. The Travoy's wheels pop off and the thing folds, all in about 15 seconds. I also used it last night as a handcart when camping out a few hundred yards from where the plane was parked, saving me several trips walking back and forth, in 94 degree heat at the end of a long day. Curb hopping ain't happening, and I do need to keep in mind it's back there but it quickly becomes second nature. Nothing like a full blown purpose built cargo bike of course, but for intermittent cargo hauling I am real happy with it. I rode 27 miles yesterday, and once again, all the other pilots at the fly in I went to were stuck at the airport.